Fair Philanthropy: The Jill Heiman Vision Fund
About Fair Philanthropy
Bill Wooten Endowment Fund
Jill Heiman Vision Fund
BOD Donation Grants
Guidelines for the 2013 Vision Fund grant process are available here. Agencies offering basic needs services are invited to apply by March 29. . Grant awards are typically between $4,000 and $6,000 but proposals of all amounts will be considered. Awards are disbursed after the Fair in August or September.
This grant fund honors the memory of Jill Heiman, the Fair’s founding attorney. It supports tax-exempt organizations in Lane County involved in an annually selected focus area such as environmental protection or basic human needs. Donations are provided by Fair volunteers, artists, staff, performers and guests.
To make a supporting donation to the Jill Heiman Vision Fund, please go to our Donations page. Thank you!
In 2012 we supported the following projects and programs providing basic need services:
White Bird Clinic
Whitebird is using this grant to provide free/reduced-fee medications for low-income patients who are prescribed medications but are unable to afford them. All of these funds will be used for medications purchased in bulk and prepackaged by Sacred Heart Hospital's pharmacy. This project will increase access to timely and appropriate medical care for individuals from our community who are unable to afford proper medical treatments.
Planned Parenthood of Southwest Oregon
The Vision Fund grant is being used to furnish an exam room in the regional health and education center with a hydraulic lift exam table. This project will enable PPSO to provide more health services to individuals managing physical disabilities, injuries, and obesity by removing barriers to care (exam table weight limitations and hydraulic lift accessibility).
Lane Coalition for Healthy, Active Youth
Due to increasing rates of childhood obesity, a child born today has a one in three chance of becoming diabetic and faces the prospect of a shorter life span than his or her parents. We know families want to make the healthy choice for their children to grow and thrive, but without access to those choices they are at a severe disadvantage. This grant is being used to implement a Healthy Corner Stores Farm Stand in Springfield as part of an ongoing effort to increase access to healthy, affordable food for low-income residents who are at high risk for obesity and chronic disease.
Mid Lane Community Partnerships
Grant funds are being used for Mid Lane's Emergency Assistance Program, with a focus on assisting low-income residents in the Fern Ridge area with utility bills. Grant funds will also assist the Fern Ridge Gleaners to glean food from farms for the local food bank in Eugene. They sort and repackage food for their families and others known as "adoptees", people who need additional food but cannot help with the physical work of gleaning.
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Philanthropy was the catalyst that began the Oregon Country Fair, has been essential to developing its long-lived success, and will provide opportunities that further its mission into the future.
